Noobs Guide to Tabletop Gaming

Tabletop gaming can seem daunting at first. Just take a look at the possessions of any dedicated Dungeons & Dragons player: special dice, gaming mats, carefully constructed miniature environments, miniature people, tons of paperwork, and of course the mountains and mountains of books they are bound to have lying around at every session. But it doesn’t have to be that hard, or that complicated. Here’s how:

1) The Equipment

Your equipment doesn’t have to be elaborate. All you really need is a group of interested friends, pencils, erasers, paper and a set of die for each player. You can get dice sets for just a few dollars off of ebay. You are looking for a set with a D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 and D20. This is what MOST dice sets include, so you won’t have to go looking very far. Just be wary of dice sets that only sport one type of die. If you wish to get more elaborate later on, you may, but never feel this is necessary.

Getting into tabletop gaming will be a TON easier if you have someone playing (or even better, DMing) who already knows the drill. However, we aren’t all so lucky. If you have someone who is willing to put in the time to research all the rules that will be enough. You aren’t memorizing a giant story and a bunch of lore – you can make that stuff up yourself. All you need to know to get started is how to keep track of your player stats on paper and a simple combat mechanic.

3) Don’t Start With Dungeons & Dragons

Unless, of course, you have an experienced D&D player willing to teach all you noobs. There are far simpler tabletop gaming systems to learn first. Pathfinder is a popular one. However, I would personally recommend the Savage Worlds system for a first timer. A quick google search will be all you need to start learning how to play.

Are you all super serious role players who will stick very heavily to realism and lore? Or do you just want to be silly and have fun with your friends? Do you prefer combat or story? It will take a while to figure out how everyone wants to play, and you probably won’t get it right at first. Original players will leave the game because it won’t be the right fit for them, but don’t worry, new players will join and make a great addition to the party.

5) Embrace Your Inner Fangirl

Are you or your friends mega fans of something? The DM can base the campaign around it! It means you won’t have to come up with or learn new lore for your game, and chances are, their are other tabletop gamers out there who are also